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Car hire firms are charging customers more than double the going rate for repairs, with one customer overcharged by almost £1,000, an investigation has found.

Consumer group Which? collected photographic evidence of damage from hire car customers across Europe who believed they had been charged more than they should have.

The images were then shown to three trusted trader garages, who were asked how much they would have charged for the repairs.

Consumer group Which? collected photographic evidence of damage from hire car customers across Europe who believed they had been charged more than they should have (file picture) 

And the Which? investigation found that in eight out of the 12 cases, all three garages quoted less than the amount levied by the car hire companies.

And in four of these cases, the car hire company charged more than double the average cost suggested by the Which? Trusted Trader mechanics.

Of the 36 quotes received from the garages, only eight were equal to or higher than the rental firm’s charge.

In one case, Europcar billed a customer renting a car in France £1,154 for a small windscreen chip that could have been fixed for as little as £35.

A separate survey of more than 150 Which? readers who'd been charged for car hire damage pointed to unfairness around car hire repairs and widespread sharp practices (file picture) 

At best, Europcar applied a markup of more than 300 per cent, and at worst the bill equated to more than 30 times the actual cost of repair.

Another driver was charged £854 for a minor door dent and bumper scratch after hiring a car from Green Motion at Stansted Airport.

But one of the experts Which? spoke to said the damage could have been fixed for £186.

A separate survey of more than 150 Which? readers who'd been charged for car hire damage pointed to unfairness around consumer perception of overcharging.

More than four in 10 told Which? researchers that they had been hit with an excessive charge and almost two in five said they had been charged for damage they knew nothing about.

Nearly three in five customers who had been charged for damage said they had never received any evidence of how the charge was calculated from their car hire company.

Some drivers said they suspected car hire firms may have been charging multiple customers for the same minor damage to a vehicle.

Major car hire firms - including Avis, Budget and Hertz - all have different practices when it comes to dealing with repairs. 

But some say they may delay repairs until a later date, allowing them to fix several problems at once, or simply leave the damage - taking a hit on the vehicle’s resale value.

They say that the bill a customer receives may be purely theoretical. It’s based on what is known as a ‘damage matrix’ of charges – essentially an estimate.

Industry insiders have told Which? that a drastic drop in profit margins has led some car hire companies to look for new ways to make money from their customers.

There are also allegations of upselling overpriced insurance, excessive repair bills and topping up takings with an additional admin fee when repairs are needed (as much as £129 in these case studies) and a ‘loss-of-use’ charge (up to £42 per day).

Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor, said: 'It's outrageous that car hire customers are being made to pay extortionate amounts for repairs that never take place.

'If repairs are required, customers should be sent clear evidence of how costs were calculated.

'Car hire firms now need to clean up their act and be upfront about the real cost of renting a car instead of offering too-good-to-be-true prices, then clawing back profits via ridiculous repair bills.' 

An infographic showing the 12 cases that Which? investigated after finding car hire customers were being charged more than they should for repairs